Ms Rebecca Stewart v Argyll College UHI Ltd — 2022

Ms Rebecca Stewart resigned on 7 December 2022 with notice to 7 February 2023 and said she was resigning because of a course of conduct by Argyll College UHI Ltd which she said amounted to a breach of the implied term of mutual trust and confidence. Her complaint focused on delay and discrepancy over her job title and pay, lack of support for a CIPS qualification course, and what she described as mistreatment by management, including Ms Close’s conduct and the handling of particular emails and meetings.

The tribunal found that the claimant had raised concerns about her job title in early 2022 and that the matter was discussed with Ms Close, Mr Wright and others against the background of an ongoing national job evaluation scheme and the claimant’s move into the accounts team at Sandbank. It accepted that there was delay and frustration, but found the delay was not unreasonable and that the respondent was not ignoring the issue. Ms Close was found to have been open to considering a new title, while Mr Wright’s role in the process and the need for evidence before any interim pay change were treated as reasonable.

On the qualification request, the tribunal found that the respondent did not refuse to allow the claimant to continue with her application, but discussed whether the course required too much absence. It found that the claimant chose not to proceed in June 2022 and that the respondent’s position that she use her own time or annual leave was not unreasonable. On the wider allegation of mistreatment by management, the tribunal made no findings of fact that Ms Close or others mistreated the claimant, and found that the claimant’s perceptions were not borne out by the contemporaneous correspondence or the evidence of other witnesses.

Looking at the matter as a whole, the tribunal held that the respondent’s conduct was not calculated or likely to destroy or seriously damage the relationship of trust and confidence. It found that Ms Close endeavoured to deal with the issues raised and to build a working relationship, that the claimant’s concerns were being reviewed at the time she resigned, and that there was reasonable and proper cause for the time taken. Because there was no fundamental breach, the tribunal did not need to decide whether the claimant resigned in response to a breach, whether she affirmed the contract, or any remedy issue, and it dismissed the unfair dismissal claim.